Denis Leamy claims all signs point to a big Munster performance against Bordeaux
Munster Defence Coach Denis Leamy. File picture: Ben Brady/Inpho
Bordeaux’s Stade Chaban-Delmas is much the same as it was when Denis Leamy was saving Irish blushes against Georgia at the 2007 World Cup but the regular tenants his Munster side are set to face in the Champions Cup quarter-finals on Saturday are an altogether tougher prospect than the supposed underdogs of 18 years ago.
Now his province’s defence coach, Leamy has a challenge every bit as dangerous in Bordeaux-Begles as the Georgian driving maul he held up late on to rescue a 14-10 pool victory for Ireland, though the return to the ageing but atmospheric stadium brought back less than palatable memories of a World Cup campaign that went badly wrong.
“I played there with Ireland definitely. I have a horrible recollection of playing against Georgia there. I saved the country!” Leamy joked this week, before adding: “I sound like Quinny now!
“Oh god, I don’t know if that’s what I want to be remembered for.” If the former back-rower helps to engineer a victory for Munster against the competition’s top seeds, it will go a long way to putting even further distance between Leamy and one of the low points of his playing career. For this is a Union Bordeaux-Begles side with the heavyweight pack and attacking firepower to give defence coaches nightmares.
Last Saturday’s Round of 16 victory at La Rochelle was as uplifting as it was narrow, Munster earning every one of their points to defeat Ronan O’Gara’s side 25-24 and it will send them to Chaban-Delmas with sky-high confidence and a belief that if they can successfully deal with a team which reached three of the last four Champions Cup finals, winning two of them, then anything is possible this weekend.
The big question will be whether there is enough left in the tank, mentally and physically, for Munster to deliver the type of performance necessary to unseat a Top 14 side on home soil which did not appear to need a top gear to see their way past Ulster on the same ground last Sunday.
Leamy could not be sure but he said: “I’ve been around long enough to know that it’s hard to predict but I think we are excited about the challenge. I think the boys are in good fettle and all signs would hopefully point towards a big performance.”
Bordeaux’s scorecard may have recorded a six tries to five victory but just as Ulster fought back from a 21-0 first-quarter deficit in two-try bursts, UBB always had it in them to keep Richie Murphy’s side at arm’s length by simply scoring again.
With a backline glittering with stars of the calibre of French internationals Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Damien Penaud, Yora Moefana and Matthieu Jalibert, as well as the power of inside centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg, though alas, no room for Joey Carbery, the Munster defence will have their hands full in the Bordeaux sun.
Yet Leamy has boiled it down to brass tacks with a straightforward instruction for Munster not to invite the counter-attacks from which Penaud and Bielle-Biarrey thrive so effectively.
Munster produced enough instances of individual defensive brilliance last Saturday to thwart La Rochelle and give hope that a similar effort may be enough to do the same to Bordeaux. Yet they will also need to continue making the try-scoring inroads to outscore against a side which appears able to score their own at the flick of a switch.
“I think simply controlling the kicking game is really important. How we attack, how we hold possession, how we bring them through phases and obviously take our opportunities.” Leamy highlighted the contribution of the back-three trio of Thaakir Abrahams, and wings Andrew Smith and Calvin Nash for helping to secure victory at Stade Marcel-Deflandre and asked for more of the same, because it seems certain Munster will have to take some punishment at least sporadically across 80 minutes.
“And then big moments in defence, when inevitably they’re going to get the ball and they’re going to stress, that we keep our cool, we keep our discipline and we come up with big plays. I think that’s hugely important, and what I mean by big plays, it’s how we slow down their speed of play.
“They will be very strong in chaos, in fractured play. How we play and how we move with them will be really important. So our speed across the pitch, which I thought was very good and really important the other day in terms of Tuckie, in terms of Smithy, Calvin, how they moved across the pitch and the bit of speed in the one-on-ones against the outside attackers from La Rochelle. I thought that was key and that will be key again this weekend.”
J Echegaray; D Penaud, Y Moefana, R Janse van Rensburg, L Bielle-Biarrey; M Jalibert, M Lucu – captain; J Poirot, M Lamothe, B Tameifuna; C Cazeaux, A Coleman; M Diaby, G Petti, P Samu
C Sa, M Perchaud, S Falatea, P Bochaton, M Gazotti, B Vergnes-Taillefer, Y Lesgourgues, P Uberti.
T Abrahams; C Nash, T Farrell, A Nankivell, A Smith; J Crowley, C Casey; J Wycherley, D Barron, O Jager; J Kleyn, T Beirne - captain; P O’Mahony, J Hodnett, G Coombes.
N Scannell, M Donnelly, S Archer, F Wycherley, T Ahern, C Murray, S O’Brien, A Kendellen.
Nika Amashukeli (Georgia).
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